First Friday Election Week & Black Civic Culture in Essex County.

Members Only Event (interested in being a member? Join here!)

Black Election Day was a prominent eighteenth and nineteenth century cultural festival that took place in late May during election week throughout Essex County, from Salem to Newburyport. This lecture uncovers the history and legacy of Black Election Day, focusing on African American women and children who, through storytelling, memory making, and joy, created an early Black civic culture.

Our guest lecturer, Kabria Baumgartner, Ph.D., is a historian of the nineteenth-century United States with a particular focus on African American history, women’s and gender history, and the history of education. She is the Dean’s Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, and Associate Director of Public History at Northeastern University in Boston. She is author of award-winning academic book, In Pursuit of Knowledge: Black Women and Educational Activism in Antebellum America. Read more at https://kabriabaumgartner.com/

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